Category Archives: breakfast

Good Morning! It is Music Monday. Today’s feature is “Feel Good” by the Gorillaz. Rock out to this during your workout today or while checking out mine below.

I am still on a high from the weekend at Healthy Living Summit. As a result, it was not hard to get up and moving down to the gym this morning. That is something key for keeping motivation up: Find something that excites you!

I did an upper body strength training session in the downstairs gym this morning. It was a routine from an older issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers. I love that magazine for new strength training moves. I also added some abs and 20 elliptical HIIT.

Today is definitely a rainy, gloomy, hot breakfast and second cup of coffee type of morning.

1/3 C. Bob’s Red Mill 5 Grain Hot cereal + flax

cooked for 10 minutes with 1 cup water

added 1 small mashed banana during cooking

plus cinnamon and vanilla an dash of sea salt

1/4 cup skim milk added at the end of cooking

topped with 1/2 T fresh ground almond butter

I am dragging this morning, so I have decided to borrow an idea from a facebook friend (hope she doesn’t mind!). She posted a song for “feeling good” on Friday. I’m taking this idea to the beginning of the week. A little tune to get you dancing and start your week off right. I think this will be a regular feature here on Freckles & Spice.

Last Week was Week 2 and the challenge was to turn a negative into a positive action for someone else.

I do not really know if I turned a negative into anything but here are some actions I witnessed through out the week:

– A fruit stand vendor let one of the regular homeless men outside Bellevue Hospital take something for free. This actually made me think I should pay for en extra piece of fruit sometimes and let one of them pick something out

– Bryan was telling me how hard it is to examine someone while having to use the translator phones because they do not speak english. At first he thought it is was hopeless, but now he is really taking his time to try and word things probably and give them the best advice and care he can despite the language barrier. He says Chinese Mandarin is the most difficult. It is hard to find words and phrases that correlate.

-I gave my seat at the movies to an older woman with a walker when no one else was moving for her.

The weekend went by way to fast. And with the rain literally non stop all day, I had a very lazy day. I did go and see The Help this morning. I live about an 8 block walk from a movie theater. This was short enough to handle the rain and it would get me out of the apartment for a bit. The movie was good, but the book was definitely better. I was surprised at how many guys there were in the theater. There were at least 2 guys there alone and a group of like 5 guys sitting in front of me, a couple of whom were tearing up at the end. I recommend the movie. I think I am a big Emma Stone fan too. I thought Easy A was entertaining and she was really good in Zombieland. Next movie I want to see if Crazy, Stupid, Love – I think she is in that too.

Before the movie I made some Peachy Oats. Yesterday at the green market, I splurged on some peaches. But they were absolutely worth it. Best damn peaches I have ever tasted. I wanted to make a oatmeal bake but it was already 9 am, and I was already starving. Here is my quickened verison.

Impatient Peachy Oatmeal Bake

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashion oats

1 large peach washed and sliced

1 cup water

1/2 cup milk (I used skim but use any type you like) + more for serving

1 T vanilla

cinnamon

dash of sea salt

agave/honey/maple syrup (I omitted this bc the peaches are sweet enough for me but added it to Bryan’s)

While oats are cooking slice peach and put into bottom of ramekins, reserve a slice or 2 for the top

Top peaches with oatmeal and ground flax

Bake for about 10 minutes ( watch to make sure it doesn’t burn)

These peaches are sooo good. If you are not as impatient as me I definitely recommend doing a traditional 35-40 minute oatmeal bake. The flavors will be richer. But this was still really good + I hate waiting.

Dinner tonight was also made from green market produce. One of the favorite things this summer has been zucchini noodles. I bought a julienne tool at Sur la Table and it just makes it so easy (my knife skills are not that great).And it is actually the only time Bryan helps cook too. He loves to do the zucchini.

If you need more to the dish serve alongside a serving of protein or add spaghetti in with the zucchini pasta

My favorite part was the color of the tomatoes.

The dish was so simple, but really flavorful. There is definitely something to be said for cooking with fresh, in season produce. The tastes just pop so much more. Both the peaches and tomatoes I cooked with today are probably the best I’ve had.

I’m going to end this post with a fun little 10 Personal Questions Q & A I saw on Healthy Tipping Point. I like the idea of sharing personal questions, and since I am still new at this it gives me a chance to introduce myself a bit more. So here goes….

What do you have on your bedside table?

No table on my side of the bed because of our tiny ass room, but on the floor right next to me is my iPad, latest issue of Runner’s World and Muscle and Fitness, reading glasses (so grandma I know) and my iPhone.

Do you have a tattoo?

Not yet! Always wanted one. Right now I am really digging white ink tattoos. I think they are more feminine looking.

What is your worst habit?

I bit my nails, and I have always been a pretty bad procrastinator with things I don’t want to do.

How do you handle finances in your relationship? Or, how would you like to handle money in your future relationship?

We basically keep separate finances right now because we are not married. Bryan does do all my taxes though. And the one thing we do have an agreement for is that I pay for the groceries, and he pays when we eat out. I think in the future we will probably have joint accounts both checking, savings, maybe separate retirement. I don’t know. We will mostly being paying all our bills together out of one account I think. Ideally Bryan will be funding the bills but I will physically be paying them. Haha, kidding…sort of.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

Something more unique. Ashley is so popular for my age group. Maybe something like my nickname, Lucy.

Where do you want to go on your next vacation?

France or Thailand. If I am staying in the US then New Orleans or Austin, TX.

What is one political cause you feel strongly about?

Education. I think the United States education system is tumbling out of control right now. Everything from the decreasing quality in public schools to funding for college. A good education is the foundation for everything in life I think.

Have you ever stolen anything?

I have stolen in the sense that I take extra sweetener packets for later use at coffee places and at conferences or talks at work take extra drinks and snacks for later or to take home. I do that a lot.

Tell us something embarrassing about yourself.

Bryan calls me fog horn because I am so gassy. I also hate wearing underwear when I am at home. I have always been this way. My mom said when I was little I would come home, strip down, and take off my diaper.

Today is Wednesday! And that means it is run club day! I hope the weather holds up, otherwise it will be treadmill running for me and who wants that. Not me, at least not when it is summer.

Last night Bryan and I decided to spend time together. No big deal right, we spend time together everyday. Not really – there is always the iPhones, or computer, or iPad, or TV. We went out for a walk and left everything at home. Even the phones. It was strangle and liberating. And we had nothing to do but talk to each other. We headed down to Madison Square Park at about 830. It was just getting dark and the park was really nice. No technology – so I have no photos to share. A couple times, I thought, Gotta get a picture – oh wait no I don’t. I’m not sorry. It was nice just focusing on the night and the park and each other. It was beautiful and you will just have to talk my word for it.

We did head into Eataly to browse. We were right across the street. How could we not go in?? That place never ceases to amaze me. Bryan has a deep love for cheese and he picked up some Buffalo mozzarella. I wanted this fresh baked Spelt Pear bread, but they were all out. Sounds great though, right? I want it with some fresh ricotta and figs. Yum Yum.

I love technology. It is what I live for now. But too much of anything is bad and can drive a person nuts. Sometimes, you have to step away from the iphone and let your google reader get backed up. Enjoy the simpler things. We did some how get into a conversation about twitter. Hey, we did the best we could.

Since, I am running this afternoon I am keeping the love going with home made breakfast. I present to you Frittata Ramekins…or is it Ramekin Frittatas. Regardless, these are the cutest damn things I’ve ever made.

I’ve been bitching that I need a cast iron skillet for frittatas and corn bread. But we live in a box and too much kitchen crap as it is. And we have a roommate + zero storage to begin with. I woke up one morning with the idea. I googled it, and sure enough you can make frittatas in a ramekin.

They pop right out into little muffin shaped frittatas. It reminded me of something you could get at a little cafe or bakery. I was really tickled with myself. Apparently, I still am. This creativity thing is new for me, so I am pretty excited about it.

Final thought for the morning. I need new dishes! These are not mine. I adopted these when I moved in with Bryan. We both agree we need new plate ware. But we differ on the kind. Bryan thinks fancy plain white ones – a la iron chef style is better for plating pictures. I, on the other hand, have always been slightly obsessed with the fun patterned and brightly colored dishes. I had to leave most of my coffee mug collection at home. But most of them follow this fun style.

Exhibit A (Bryan’s mug left; My mug right):

I like mine.

Tell me-

What is your plate ware style? Are you more minimalist and clean, or fun and patterned?And which do you think makes for better pictures?

Bryan and I are having a date day. He is actually off this weekend. Say whaaa??? I know right. This is the first time in 13 days the alarms has not gone off at 6 am. Hallelujah!

So, I slept in….which means I was up at 720 and out the door running by 740. Bryan skipped out on this part of date day. I almost did too. But as usual, I am so glad I did. I wish I was one of those people that absolutely loves running and hardly ever has to convince themselves to get up and go. I am not. I like it and usually happy once I am out. But I do not love it yet. Running is hard man and sometimes my legs are just stiff bricks. So, what is a girl to do? Here are some motivational things I found useful this morning:

I remind myself that you never regret a work out, but you regret NOT working out. This usually does the trick. I have found that those common fitness/diet tips you hear so often almost always are true. Hence, the reason you hear them so much.

Negotiate with myself. Maybe I am really sore/tired. Okay, lets do the elliptical instead, or plan a shorter distance. How about just get out and do a mile and check back in with myself. Usually, I find that once I’m out I feel good and can keep going. If I’m still feeling ehh, then I’m done. Something is better than nothing, and I can always try again later.

Dangle a reward. If I get out and exercise, then I can stop off for a good coffee at my favorite place or an egg sandwich on the way home today. I try not to do the reward thing often but on really rough days, why not. Or instead of getting it out, tell myself I will add a special ingredient my usual breakfast when I get back. Say some nut butter or chocolate covered almonds to my oats or something.

Usually one of them does the trick, today I incorporated all three. Still coming off of Wednesday 4.5 mile high. I decided it was fine to do a shorter easy run. Usually, I think to think go big, or go home. But going small is definitely a better option than not at all. I set out to do only 1.75-2 miles. It was a really nice morning and I ended up enjoying a 2.6 mile run and going to down to do something strength training when I got back. Back + Biceps + Abs. I will post the routine in this week in work outs.

Check out the new run skirt:

I got a Champion running skirt at Target for only $15 a few weeks ago and have yet to use it. The verdict! Love it! The skirt is more comfortable than shorts.

After the work out, date day was back on with my number 3 motivational tool. I made Green Monster Protein Pancakes. I actually didn’t think of this until I was on my run. Maybe it is what kept me going further. I’m sure I’ve seen them on another blog a some point and that’s where I got the idea.

GM Protein Pancakes (For 2):

Combine these ingredients into blender and blend until combined

2/3 c. of milk of choice, I used unsweetened chocolate almond today

2 big handfuls of spinach

2/3 c. old fashion oats

1 1/2 scoops of choc. sunwarrior protein powder

1 egg white

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 packet stevia – just a touch of sweetness

topped these with 1 mashed banana (split btw the 2 of us) and walnuts. Bryan also added a drizzle of agave syrup on top.

This made 4 medium pancakes (1/4 c. scoops of batter) and 1 more slightly smaller pancake. Bryan gladly took the extra. I was pumped that he liked them. He is always leery when I start “making weird things.” But I’ve never made a weird thing he didn’t like.

We just got back from see at 1pm showing of Captain America (thumbs up by the way) and eating leftovers for lunch. Salad for me and indian for him.

Now, I think we are off to continue date day at a coffee shop to get work done. Or maybe we will just find ourselves at a Wine bar with outdoor seating instead 🙂

What is your pancake topping of choice? I think some berries dropped into the batter would have been really good too.

Snap! Crackle! Pop! Nope, that is not in reference to cereal, although that is what I’ve been eating every. single. morning. for the past month or so. I love it!

But, I digress. Those noises unfortunately, are in reference to my hips. Normally, I love the fact that living in the city forces you to get out and move. But sometimes all the walking takes a toll on my sciatica. Thanks to google maps, I calculated about 8-9 miles of walking during this weekends adventures. I swear all the walking is harder on my body than running. Probably has something to do with the fact that I’m not wearing good foot wear on these excursions. Flip flops, not made for walking. Anywho, this has left me with Monday and Tuesday as unplanned rest days.

This summer in general has screwed with my routine. I’ve been severely neglecting my lifting schedule. There is no excuse. I am a firm believer in no excuses, acknowledging the fault, and being proactive about changing it. I have no one to blame but myself if I’m not doing what I need to do. So on the schedule for today: some AM vinyasa yoga (gotta open those hip flexors) and hopefully an outdoor run with the Lululemon run club. This has been something I’ve wanted to do, but too nervous about. Caitlin has convinced me that it will awesome and there is no need for me to fret. Finger crossed that I can get down to Soho in time for this!

In other exciting news, I just booked my bus ticket to Philly for Healthy Living Summit. I am beyond pumped about this. This is actually how I met Caitlin. She emailed me about a rooming together for that weekend. She actually lives in NYC too, which is awesome. Can’t wait to meet her and my other roomie, Lisa from Lisa’s Foods on the Move. Speaking of, as far as I know – we have room for one more!

What is your favorite cereal right now? That bowl you are looking at this morning is a mix of Mesa Sunrise Flakes, Wegman’s High Fiber (like fiber one), and Kamut Puffs + sunwarrior choc. protein powder, fresh blues, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I just found out that starting next week Nickelodeon will be airing the shows that us twenty-somethings grew up on. That means you will once again be able to join Clarrisa in her hate for Ferguson. And hide under your blanket during Are You Afraid of the Dark. And go nematode hunting with Doug and Porkchop. Unfortunately, this segment, aptly named The 90’s Are All That, will be on from midnight-2am. Although I am older now, that is still past my bedtime. I will need to find some sort of solution to this.

As soon as I found out this news, I had to email Bryan. We play this game called Nostalgia. We try to remember things, with out cheating and googling stuff, from back in the day. Everything from TV shows, to toys, commericals, and games. We’ve been playing this for years and still have not run out of things. One of us always declares ourselves the winner if we think we came up with something other one never would have remembered. Speaking of, Bryan – SNAP BRACELETS! I win!!

I owe this blog some major love. I haven’t given her any attention since Friday! I got home a bit earlier last night and fully intended on posting – then NYU emailed that the internet was going to down for the evening. Figures.

I have really been enjoying the finally consistent, nice weather. Yay for May!

On Saturday, I checked out the Self Magazine Workout in the Park. It was 11-3 and included tons of 20 minute long fitness classes put on by Crunch.

I’m not usually a big class person. I like spinning classes and some yoga, but that is about it. I thought this would be a fun change up for me and bonus points for getting to spend most of the day outside in the sun!

I did like 3 abs/core classes. What was I thinking?! My lower back and abs have been killing me for days. Its a good sore, but I’ve never been sore like this in my core. The workouts were Saturday and today (Wednesday) is the first day I’m not dying. Bryan tried to massage it but it hurt sooo bad.

The best class I took was BodyART. Here is the description: Ying meets Yang in this class that blends cardio, yoga, and dance based principles. This workout is therapy for over-exercises and perfect for anyone looking to improve the functionality of the body from head to toe. Use deep work training to release tension in the body and return it to the roots of what makes it one efficient and functional unit. I looooved this class.

The Self Workout in the Park ended up being a lot of fun and a great work out. I got in 5 20 minute classes. I stayed away from the dance classes though. I tried a song or two during the Masala Bhangra. I was a mess. So I grabbed my bag and slowly moved out of the crowd, and headed to the tents to check out the free swag.

A lot strawberries. Spring means awesome, fresh strawberries! I got this 2 pound container for only $2.50. So far every single one has been so goooood. I’ve been putting them on everything.

I stuffed as many strawberries as I could into this little container. Yogurt was literally busting out the top, and I happily licked it off the sides of the container. No one was watching, but would I have cared even if they were – NOPE!

I was also thrilled to finally make Cookie Dough Cereal! Just like everyone has been saying – out of this world! I made 2 and Bryan liked it too!

Then I added 2/3 c of unsweetened almond milk, vanilla extract, tons of strawberries, 1/2 banana, and chia seeds – for good measure

I have also been eating a lot of soup, complete with oysters.

I know, I know. The weather is getting warmer and I am eating soup. I’ve been feeling congested and have really been digging soup the past week. This is Trader Joe’s low sodium roasted red pepper and tomato.

Soup and these little guys

These dangerous little fishies are cinnamon graham cracker Goldfish. And I have eaten just about an entire bag. New weakness. Yum Yum Yum.

As far as workouts go, besides the abs, I have been really liking outdoor running and upper body lifting. Mainly focusing on shoulders and upper back – its sundress season soon!!

In other, random news: Has anyone seen that new Honda Civic commerical?? It has got some scary, furry troll in it. Creepy and Confusing.

That was a quick review post, and now we will be back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Oh funny story! I had a cooking fail with eggplant this evening, and after I whipped up a pita stuffed with hummus, tabbouleh, and half sour pickles instead. I brought my make shift dinner in to watch an Iron Chef rerun, and the secret ingredient was EGGPLANT. I kid you not. I almost changed it.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I am finally addressing my Top 10 Food Must Haves. Tomorrow is also a big day! I have a morning run planned -stopping on the way back for a good coffee, yoga with my cousin after work, and dinner out with Bryan. All because it’s my birthday!

Last night, I was feeling crappy again, but this morning I am headache free! I am always skeptical of medicine though, so I always wonder if it is the Clarition, or if I just got better on my own. I will continue to judge it over the next couple days and see. I only bought a 5 day supply, so time will tell.

My favorite spinning class is 630 Friday mornings. But it happens to be everyone’s favorite at my gym. You have to call at like 630 am on THURSDAY to sign up. Yesterday, I forgot until 1pm – full already…drats.

But perhaps everything happens for a reason. I woke up feeling good and decided a run outside sounded perfect this morning. I am luckily enough to live right on 1st Ave and so close to the East River Drive Parkway. I have only run here a couple times, usually just sticking to the treadmill.

It was great! There were so many people out. Last time I went back in March, there were very few people pounding the East River pavement.

Looks like a postcard, right?! Even after 2 years, I still have moments in the city where I just look around and still cannot believe I live here. This morning was one of them. ❤
I got in a good 40 minutes. It was a 4 mile run. I requested a Garmin Forerunner for my birthday so I can take track distances and time. We will see if I get it. If not, I may have to make it a gift for myself. I can estimate the miles with the help of google maps, but it is not the same.

I like egg whites with just pepper. Bryan tells me I eat too bland sometimes. If you feel that scrambled egg whites are too bland, there are a number of things you can add to still have a quick, low cal breakfast. Spices are great – paprika or chili powder, cumin. A little bit of salsa or hot sauce is really good too.

My random thought this morning: I informed Bryan I want to go to the Kentucky Derby one day. I’m sure the horse race is exciting, I would like to see it at least once. But luckily the actual race only lasts like 30 seconds, because I want to go for the other experiences. The celebrities and the atmosphere. My importantly the gourmet food and garden party dress! And the hats!!

Hello! I think I am starting to feel better this morning. I still took the the morning off because I am not 100%. But Hopefully, I can get a workout in this evening. I have signed up for spinning and as of right now fully plan on going. I rather be outside, but I think it is safer going to the gym in case I need to make a quick exit :/…

I love watermelon. The crunch, the juice, the flavor! Love it all. The smell of fresh cut watermelon is my favorite. Smells like summer and fun. My mom used to cut up an entire watermelon on Saturday mornings, and my brother and I could eat the whole thing. Watermelon and brussel sprouts started a war between us. Weird kids…

Besides the watermelon being delicious! These breakfasts are kind of boring. They taste good, but they are not anything special to read about. With that said, this blog is about how I manage to live healthy with all the limitations of being in the city – limited space, time, and money. So this is what I have been eating. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day though and I do really want to start making some of those yummy breakfasts I see floating around the blog world. Or at least muster up the energy to get back to making fancied up oats and smoothies. The week day morning is just tough. I need to revamp my routine, because it really ends up taking like 3-4 hours. I get up so early but still don’t manage to get to work until almost 10. After working out, lounging around sipping my coffee, reading blogs, checking email, make my lunch, and Bryan’s lunch. Then comes the trouble of what to wear?!

Take this morning for instances. I need to do laundry after my trip. I also need to go to my storage facility and get my spring/summer clothes! That’s a good thing! Finally some nice weather! Anyway, back to this morning – so, I grabbed a pair of jeans that I had the waist taken in on last fall. I haven’t worn them in a couple months. They are too big! And there is money in the pocket! Yay, Jeans I had taken are falling off! Hot damn! And I love finding money in pockets – Only a dollar but hey money is money! It is great that the jeans are too big, but at the same time I need something to wear. I have been having this problem a lot lately. Clothes are fitting me weird. Everything is too big, and Bryan calls me bag-ass. Or the next size down is too small. My shirts are too big and too small at the same time. Maybe I just need to start branching out and shopping at other places.

In summary, Wednesday is looking pretty good. It is sunny and 70’s in NYC today, I am starting to feel better, and I have an excuse to go shopping!

Anyone have any good bargain shopping advice? What are your favorite clothing stores? I usually like Banana Republic, Gap, and J. Crew.

Also what is your morning routine like? What do you find is the longest part?

Welcome!

Hi! I am Ashley. A life long food enthusiast, but with a newly developed healthy attitude. This blog is a place for discussion about healthy living, as well as a resource for the science behind healthy choices. Freckles & Spice is my commitment to stay on the path towards healthy and active lifestyle and to rediscover myself, all while balancing the fast paced, hectic life of a professional twenty-something living in the city. Thanks for stopping by!

First time here? Check out this post for a little introduction to what you will find here.